


Crumbling

by Kingrey



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s02e21 Destinies Collide, F/M, mostly eugene introspection because that's how it is, tangled tenth anniversary countdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26993524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kingrey/pseuds/Kingrey
Summary: "I love you" she said, her smile and her eyes so earnest that he couldn't help but hate himself for how much he wanted to stop her.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	Crumbling

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! This thing is actually the first thing I ever wrote for tangled (before the finale had even aired!!). I thought i would write this and be done with it and uh... Here I am fgsdhdj It actually inspired my moongene fic so if you know it you may find some similarities!!  
> I'm posting this in honour of the tangled countdown, and because I'm still obsessed with Eugene's pov in Destinies Collide ahah sorry it's so short!! I hope you'll still enjoy it

"I love you" she said, her smile and her eyes so earnest that he couldn't help but hate himself for how much he wanted to stop her.

Rapunzel's hair was floating above her, illuminating her features as he reluctantly let go of her hands. Eugene Fitzherbert had always been a selfish man, a thief even before he called himself Flynn Rider, and today, he wanted nothing more than to steal Rapunzel's destiny. He wanted her to be safe and happy in her castle, with everything she could ever want, while he took on the moonstone. He wasn't really the chivalrous kind - he didn't think he could hold a candle to what Rapunzel was able to do - but he didn't want _her_ doing it.

He was selfish because he couldn't live without her, and he nearly betrayed the love of his life to keep her safe.

As she made her way to the moonstone, he remembered the empty space where the King's arm - his _father's_ arm - should be and the peaceful look the Queen - his _mother_ \- bore in the painting. He thought about emptiness, about loss, and he couldn't bear to imagine Rapunzel going through it.

She was the strongest person he ever met but losing an arm? She loved to paint, and to explore, and to swing from her hair, and- she could adapt but he didn't want her to. She gave so much and lost so much in the first eighteen years of her life, she deserved to have the entire world, not- not-

Heart in his throat, Eugene took a step forward nearly on instinct, wanting to stop her and to take her place. Because he ached thinking that she could lose an arm but there was much more at stake here and _he couldn't live without her_.

Her hand was ready to close on the moonstone and all he could see was the mother he never had immortalized by a painting, the life he didn't know he should have had, ripped from him before he could realise. He thought of the man who called him son, of the loneliness he radiated, and thought about what he must have looked like in the orphanage, when hope was the poison he couldn't help but drink, even though it hurt him.

He thought of a young woman, frying pan in hand, not even eighteen yet, but with the brightest smile he had ever seen. He thought of her room, her journal, her paintings, her mother's words telling her that she was so much more than a princess stuck in a castle - and he thought of her blonde hair, floating away, gold and blue hues fighting for dominance in this cave.

He took another step and thought that maybe, just maybe, he should be the one taking the moonstone, because he had had the best life a thief could ever hope for, and he had already died once but as long as it wasn't Rapunzel dying, he was okay with doing it again and-

And, so focused on his own panic, he didn't see Cassandra move until her hand closed on the moonstone. Eyes widening, he watched Rapunzel hair fall down, suddenly looking dull as her hand extended toward a struggling Cassandra, not quite believing what was happening.

Eugene nearly did the same thing, but Cassandra was talking about trust, and destinies, and Gothel, while he only wanted to keep Rapunzel safe - and he thought that Cassandra, of all people, would want that too. 

He was wrong but today, he had learned he was wrong about most things.

**Author's Note:**

> it's a very weird feeling to read this now, deep into my tangled obsession fsqhgdqs I didn't know what was coming yet when I wrote this
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this short thing, destinies collide is really a WONDERFUL episode!!  
> I've been kinda slow with writing lately because of some heavy irl stuff happening but aah I hope I get out of this funk soon :')


End file.
